Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Well, I’ve been trying to find a way to approach the topic
of how to recover…not from an intense, muscle-shredding workout at Motivate,
but from the guilt of missing one. I have missed several during this six-week
span of TRX classes, and here’s why: blah, blah, blah. Yep, everyone misses a
workout once in a while, and everyone has good excuses. Life happens, to all of
us, regardless of the kind of job we have, the number of children we have, or
how far we live from our workout destination. So I’ll spare you the details of
why my workout regimen has been blown to smithereens lately and get right to
the meat of the matter: I plan to never miss the safety of my 10 a.m. workout again.

And the reason is, Dominic is even more of a go-getter in
the evening, and by go-getter, I mean total loon-atic. As if TRX combined with
Tabata wasn’t challenging enough, he threw “stations” into the mix, so we took
turns rotating around the room doing a variety of moves with names like,
“squats under a fence,” and “walking plank.” Ow, ow, owieeeeeeeeee.

Then, he sent us outside for a quick lap around the parking
lot. Was I being punished for missing my mid-morning class and bringing the
whole class down with me? Or was this just “Evening Dominator?”

What I truly wish I could do is get to the 6 a.m. class, and
this summer, I may just go back to it. For me, getting my workout in before the
heat of the day starts is a big deal. For many years, I was an early-morning
workout person all year-round. It was truly like having an extra day built into
my day. I loved the feeling of walking back into the house at 7 a.m. and having
my work-out totally off my plate for the day. My real day was literally just
starting, and my workout was done. So last Sunday night, when I realized that I
had a doctor appointment Monday during my regular TRX class, I had a choice to
make: 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. I chose 6 p.m., just for the heck of it. Wow. Little did
I know that the Dominator really comes alive as the sun goes down.

Results: They’re
Gonna be Huuuuge!

Now in week 5 of this TRX 6-week class, I’m noticing a
different flow in the workout that was missing in the first week or two. Now,
when Dominic says, “On the floor and put your toes in,” I know what to expect.
I roll over, assume the position, and prepare to plank. The key is anticipating
what is coming next. Because I am getting more familiar with how we do the
exercises, and how to make them more challenging (just a step or two back to
increase that angle during a “low row” makes a helluva lot of difference) I am
finding that transitioning between exercises is smoother and easier because I
know what I’m about to do, how my body will react, and which cuss words are
most appropriate. And I’m seeing increasingly more muscle tone where once,
there was…less. It’s subtle, but it’s real. My husband noticed my shoulders the
other day and said something about it. My daughter told us to get a room.

Next week is the last in this six-week session. I will not,
I cannot, I shall not miss my Monday, Wednesday, or my Friday 10 a.m. class.
But if I do, I’ll sneak into the 6 a.m. class if I have to stand outside the
door and follow along.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

I’ve just begun my third (or is it fourth), 6-week TRX class at Motivate, and
this time, I’ve decided to chronicle some of what is going on, both with my
body and mind, how they respond to TRX, and the class itself. I’ll start with a
little background.

I’m dangerously close to turning 50, and when that happens
this summer, I want to be in the best shape I possibly can, given my
conditions: oodles of kids, busy household, job, and believe it or not, a life outside all of that. In other
words, I am not a “party of one” and therefore, I can’t devote two or three hours a day to working out. But I want to be in shape and stay ahead of the
aging curve. So I choose to squeeze it in. What I have found with TRX is the most "bang for my buck." In other words, TRX gives me the best results for the amount of time I have to invest in serious exercise: one hour,
three days a week. On off-TRX days, I try to do a little yoga at home, just to
stretch and get my blood flowing. A couple days a week I walk roads that traverse the rolling
hills on the edges of town, which give me a little challenge. For stretches of thirty or forty yards intermittently, I "lunge" instead of walk. If you think this doesn't turn a simple walk into a totally different experience, try it sometime.

I have back issues. Running is out for me, and has been for
a few years. A degenerative disc disease and lower back issues brought running
to a close about three years ago. TRX is low-impact, so I don’t have to worry
about joint/disc inflammation (and consequently, stiffness and pain) that
results from the jarring and pounding of running. Once in a while, thinking that
perhaps there’s been some sort of divine intervention, I go for a run. The next
day I regret it. So now I’m putting all my eggs in the TRX basket.

What I Get Out of TRX

First, I can see muscle tone and definition where before
there wasn’t much. My shoulders, legs and upper arms now have a different look.
I also feel steadier in my movements. While 50 isn’t 80, it’s also not 20, or
even 30. The change in a person’s steadiness and coordination begins to change
big time after the age of 40, unless you are a super fit athlete. For most of
us average folks, who left the seriously athletic life behind once kids came on scene,
which for me was my early 30s, it’s noticeably different. TRX, with its focus
on the core muscles of the lower back and abdomen, translates into better
balance, period. I already mentioned the increased muscle tone and mass, but
there’s one more thing I get, and that’s the mental lift that comes with
working my body hard three days a week. My muscles are very tired when class ends. By late evening, I’m usually starting to feel a little stiff and store.
The next morning after a workout, I’m wincing, but in a good way. It means my
body was challenged and is a little bit better and stronger than it was the day
before.

Because TRX relies on bodyweight, everything is scalable for
a person’s individual abilities. Need to make that chest row more challenging?
Take a step forward, deepen the angle and let gravity give you what you need. Want
to add a little edge to the planking? Curl your knees to your chest while
holding the plank. A beginner and an experienced TRX classmate can be right next to each other and both will get a serious workout.

Finally, I enjoy hiking in the summer, and without a doubt,
this summer, at 50, I will be stronger and in better physical shape than I was
when I turned 49 last summer. And for me, that’s success.

What TRX Gets Out of
Me

Stress. Anxiety. Feelings of guilt about my physical
condition. TRX sucks out the negative energy that comes with life’s everyday
happenings: teenagers, work, family, appointments, laundry, animals, and chores.
For one hour, three days a week, everything else other than TRX gets relegated
to “not the priority.” Of course, life gets in the way now and then and I miss
class. After my initial guilt passes about that, I try to have a really “clean
eating” day since I had to miss my workout.

And that soreness I mentioned? It keeps reminding me, during
the rushing and hurrying of running errands and going to meetings that I’m
getting stronger and healthier with every passing day that I work out. The old
line, “hurts so good,” is true, mentally and physically, when I’m doing TRX.

For the next four-and-a-half weeks (I’ve just started week 2)
I’ll share what’s happening. Or what happens when The Dominator says, “We're almost done” and we
still have 15 minutes of class left and I cuss loudly.

Stay tuned!

P.S. This blog is dedicated to Sophie girl, the Motivate
mascot who was always there to give us an encouraging kiss or nudge with her
wet nose while we were planking. RIP Sophie. You are missed.